For the past 37 years, high school boys basketball teams from all over the southeast United States have traveled to Poplar Bluff to compete in the annual Poplar Bluff Showdown tournament.
The idea began when Dr. Jerry McLane — then-owner of First National Bank, which is now known as First Midwest Bank — and then-Poplar Bluff athletic director Howard Garrett put their heads together as a way for the Mules to face tougher competition in preparation for postseason play.
“Back in the late 70s, Poplar Bluff had some really good high school boys basketball teams,” First Midwest Bank Executive Vice President Dale Dickerson said. “Our schedule was mainly comprised of playing the local teams around here. Every year when we had those really solid teams, I mean, we had boys who went and played at big colleges and universities. We would get up to St. Louis, and in, like, the quarterfinals we would just get blown out by Vashon, St. Louis Central, Hazelwood Central or somebody like that. They played a different style of basketball than we were used to seeing down here at that time.
“Howard Garrett was the athletic director and watched that happen. He was a basketball player that played at Poplar Bluff High School back in probably the 60s. He was really good and went on to play college ball, so he was a competitive guy. This was his brainchild, to have a tournament where we brought in really good elite teams or players from probably an eight state area. It allowed us to play competition that was not necessarily better but played a different style of game and help get us prepared for the possibility of postseason play.”
Since the inception of the annual tournament, First Midwest Bank — then known as First National Bank — has been its main sponsor.
“The McLane family with First Midwest Bank has basically been the presenting sponsor ever since (the tournament began),” Poplar Bluff athletic director Kent Keith said. “Obviously we have other sponsors, but they’re the biggest sponsor for the tournament itself.”
Throughout the Showdown’s history, several future professional athletes have competed in the tournament. In addition to Poplar Bluff natives Tyler and Ben Hansbrough, multiple future NBA players have competed on the Mules home court including current Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker.
“You’ll see some really good basketball players,” Dickerson said. “It’s an opportunity for Poplar Bluff and its players to, even if they aren’t the most competitive that year, they get to play against guys like Devin Booker and be able to talk about the rest of their lives. Our local fans get treated to be able to say that they saw Devin Booker play or Anthony Peeler play and the Hansbrough boys. We still take a lot of pride in it. We love being a part of it.”
Keith remembered Booker’s appearance in the 2012 tournament fondly.
“We had Moss Point, Mississippi, and Devin Booker, that was a big get for us,” Keith said. “He’s a high school senior, he’s sitting in the lobby and everybody’s wanting his autograph and taking pictures with him and so forth. In recent history, he was one of the bigger, larger-than-life stars that has played in it.”
While ultimately rewarding, putting the tournament together has its challenges. According to Keith, planning for next year’s tournament has already begun and the dates are set.
“I’ve met with First Midwest Bank already, and we’ve already got the dates set for next year,” Keith said. “It’s kind of tough because we always try and do it right after Christmas. We always try to do it on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, so next year, Christmas is on Wednesday the 25th and the tournament will be on the 26th, 27th and 28th. That’s always hard to do right after Christmas, but we usually try not to get too far away from the Christmas date.”
In addition to scheduling and promotion, Keith admitted it’s been difficult to find sponsors in recent years due to the COVID-19 pandemic which caused the tournament’s cancellation in 2020.
“Since COVID, it has been a little bit harder getting sponsors,” Keith said. “We do pay a guaranteed amount for each of the teams that come in. Poplar Bluff doesn’t take a guarantee as the host school, but we pay each team a guarantee to come in and play in the tournament. That helps with their hotel rooms and their meals and so forth. It’s a pretty substantial guarantee in comparison to what a lot of tournaments are paying. It’s not on with Nike or somebody like that, but for basically a local high school tournament, we pay a pretty good guarantee.”
The 36th annual Poplar Bluff Showdown will begin at 4 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 28 and run through Saturday. Cost of entry for each day is $8, which covers all four games.
“You get there for the first game and you watch four games that day,” Dickerson said. “You get eight hours of basketball and get to see some really good players. I mean for $8, what can you do for eight bucks anymore?”
In addition, fans have the chance to watch players compete in a slam dunk and 3-point contest at no charge beginning at 10 a.m. Friday.
“It’s kind of cool to come in and watch some of the guys you saw play try to slam dunk or shoot 3s. It’s a neat experience,” Keith said. “We give out plaques for that to the guys and it’s free of charge, so a lot of people bring their little kids that would enjoy something like that.”
__Poplar Bluff Showdown Schedule__
__Thursday__
McCracken Co. vs. Vilonia, 4 p.m.
New Madrid vs. Germantown, 5:30 p.m.
Poplar Bluff vs. Memphis East, 7 p.m.
Christian Brothers vs. Urbana, 8:30 p.m.
__Friday__
Consolation semifinals: 4 p.m., 5:30 p.m.
Winner’s semifinals: 7 p.m., 8:30 p.m.
Saturday
7th Place Game: noon
5th Place Game: 2 p.m.
3rd Place Game: 3:30 p.m.
Championship: 5 p.m.